Jesus Teaches About The Temptations of Worldliness

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Wednesday August 07, 2024}

Matthew 18:1-35, Mark 9:33-50, Luke 9:46-50

Father, I would rather be a servant in the house of God than a rich man on this earth. My joy will be to walk through the gates of Your Kingdom and to see Your Son receive all the praise and worship He alone deserves. I would rather have Jesus ask me to do small anonymous tasks for Him instead of me wanting a position of prominence in Your Kingdom. Father, give me a heart that wants to be a servant of all - a servant to You and to all of my neighbors. Father, give me the spiritual maturity to become totally dependent upon You, just like a little child. Father, surround me with protection so that I will never turn from the faith, enticed by things, people, and my own sinful desires. Father, please use me to gather Your lost sheep and to bring them back to You. Please drive out the worldliness that is so prevalent in today's church. I ask that You unite believers of all denominations across this land, orchestrating a spiritual revival that rescues this land from its wickedness. Father, help me to forgive everyone for anything they have done to me in the past, they are doing to me in the present, and they will do to me in the future. Amen.
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven
Father, in the section entitled “Jesus Tells of His Death and Resurrection”, we discussed how the disciples’ faith was wavering.
Now we see why. They were worldly. The world informs us that we should pursue self-reliance, fame, power, influence, wealth, and pleasure because we are in control of our lives.
Jesus’ message to His disciples was the exact opposite. They are not to rely on their own strength. They are to surrender control of their lives to Him. They are to pursue obscurity over fame, meekness over power, insignificance over influence, poverty over wealth, and self-denial over pleasure.
The disciples heard this message, and it made no sense to them. In fact, they don’t believe Jesus really meant it. Their perspective of heaven is that it is a place where people rely on themselves and have fame, power, and influence. In their line of thinking, they deserve such authority and power because they are pals with Jesus.
We know the disciples thought that way because of the question they asked Jesus.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (NIV)
Jesus understood that His disciples are so blinded by their worldliness that they needed to be shocked by a visual metaphor of the exact opposite perspective. Jesus asked a little child to come to Him. Perhaps with His hands on the child’s shoulders, Jesus told His disciples that only little children will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Since it is obvious that adults cannot physically become little children again, we know that Jesus was referring to something else.
What is the relationship like between a toddler and his father?

• The toddler depends upon the father to provide everything the child needs.
• The toddler depends upon the father to protect him from all threats.
• The toddler is submissive to the father and obeys the father.
• The toddler respects and listens to the wisdom and understanding of the father.
• The toddler dares not to rebel from his father who is physically dominant over him.
• The toddler has no aspirations for fame, power, influence, and wealth.
• The toddler is meek and humble in the presence of his father. He does not promote himself.

Jesus was warning His disciples that their spiritual condition was dire and that they were destined for hell. They were false disciples who needed to “change and become like little children (NIV)” in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They needed to repent. They needed to surrender their lives to Him.

Jesus said:
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me (NIV).
Imagine the disciples had a goal to have new friends. Who are they going to choose?

• The wealthy? The famous? The powerful? The influential? The partiers? “Adults” who have a rebellious heart, who think they are smarter than God?
• The godly who have become like humble and meek little children before the Lord, having surrendered their lives to Christ?

Jesus is with those who have faith in Him like a little child. Jesus tell His disciples that if they prioritize the first group of people, they are rejecting Jesus as their friend. He’s not in that group. If they choose the second group of people, He is in that group.
What Causes People to Turn from Faith?
Father, Jesus than gives His disciples a warning. Your wrath will be expressed in full to anyone who leads a godly person into a life of worldliness. Anyone who entices a godly person to pursue fame, power, influence, wealth, and pleasure is inviting Your wrath and destruction into their hearts and lives. In Your eyes, the evil and wickedness of such an act is no different than if they had exploited and abused an innocent child.
According to this passage, what are the three things that can cause anyone to turn from God and embrace worldliness?

• Things. Anything that contributes to the worship of self (advertising campaigns), fame (celebrity lifestyles), power (politicians, bureaucrats, corporate executives), influence (social media, talking heads), wealth (luxury cars, mansions in exclusive communities), and pleasure (drugs, sex, alcohol).
• People. Anyone who encourages us to pursuit the idols of self, fame, power, influence, wealth, and pleasure.
• Self. Any desire within our heart to be in control of our lives, to enjoy pleasure above all else, and to seek fame, power, influence, and wealth at all costs.

As one mourns for the death of a loved one, so must one mourn for the loss of a loved one into worldliness, having become victimized by things, people, and the idols of the heart. It is spiritual death to abandon the ways of God in order to embrace worldliness. Hence, we mourn (“woe”, ????).
Father, if there is gangrene in our foot, we cut off the foot before the gangrene spreads throughout our body. Many women have chosen to have a mastectomy after they heard the diagnosis of breast cancer. Similarly,
…We should remove from our heart the desire to be in control of our lives and our desire to deny Your will. It’s a spiritual disease that will destroy the entire soul.
…We should remove from our heart the desire to be famous, to seek our own glory instead of Yours. It’s a spiritual disease that will destroy the entire soul.
…We should remove from our heart the desire to have power, to treat others cruelly simply because we can. It’s a spiritual disease that will destroy the entire soul.
…We should remove from our heart the desire to have influence, to think that our opinions must be believed by everyone else. It’s a spiritual disease that will destroy the entire soul.
…We should remove from our heart the desire to have wealth, to think that a large bank account will solve all of our problems. It’s a spiritual disease that will destroy the entire soul.
…We should remove from our heart the desire to enjoy pleasures that disobey Your commands and cast aside our relationship with You. It’s a spiritual disease that will destroy the entire soul.
It is better to go through life without self-control, fame, power, influence, wealth, and pleasure if it will save our souls from rejecting God’s ways and finding ourselves in hell.
Cannot fame, power, influence, and wealth be used to build the Kingdom of God?  Certainly. The famous and influential can share their testimony with multitudes. The powerful can influence public policy to return our society towards godliness. The wealthy can infuse ministries with much needed resources.
However, there are few among us who can dance with fame, power, influence, and wealth without getting burned and succumbing to the idolatry. A man who is addicted to sugar can only say “no, thank you” just a few times before reaching into boxes of fresh donuts that are passed around the office. The vast majority of men who discover they have fame, power, and influence will begin to expect special treatment from everyone else. The vast majority of men who are given money they never had before will decrease their reliance upon God and place their faith in their bank account.
Jesus says in this passage that every believer will be “salted” with the fire of persecution and suffering in their Christian life.  It is the believer’s faith, peace, and joy during such difficult times that is the salt that will lead others to faith. However, if believers walk away from the faith and embrace worldliness, they lose their “saltiness” and become worthless. Once a believer’s godly reputation has been damaged by a turn towards worldliness, how will they get their godly reputation back?  While a believer can come back into the church after a bout with worldliness, they may not be able to return to fruitful ministry. Jesus gives the advice for people to remain in the faith (“have salt in yourselves”) and to live harmoniously with their brothers and sisters in Christ (“peace with one another”).
The Lost Sheep – God Pursuits Believers Who Walk Away
Father, Jesus said to His disciples that they should not despise one of the “little ones (NIV).” He said that they have angels in heaven who have special access to You.
It is widely believed that Jesus is exclusively talking about little children. Father, there is no doubt that innocent children are precious to You and that we can correctly use this passage as inspiration to minister lovingly to little children with fear before God for their care. However, I believe that Jesus was not thinking only of children when He made this statement.

• Jesus had just taught that the disciples should become like little children. They should have 100% dependency upon Him. I believe “little ones” is a state of spiritual maturity wherein people fully surrender their lives to Christ. Those that fully surrender to Christ receive the protection of angels who report to You about how the “little ones” are doing. You then command the angels to take certain actions to protect the “little ones”.
• Why would He tell the disciples not to despise children? Did they really hate children? I can’t imagine they could be disciples of Jesus if they had evil hatred towards children in their hearts. However, we know that people do resent those who surrender their lives to Christ. People hate anyone who models total submission to God. I believe Jesus was saying to His worldly disciples that they should not despise those who 100% surrender their lives to Jesus Christ with childlike faith. They will have to answer to You if they despise such people.

What about the believer who succumbs to the temptations of worldliness and walks away from Jesus? We learn from this passage that an angel will report this to You. You, not wanting any believer to lose their salvation, will then rescue that believer, just like a shepherd will rescue the one sheep who was strayed away from the flock. There will be great celebration in heaven when a wayward believer has returned to the faith.
Worldliness in the Church
Father, when believers succumb to the temptations of the world, they bring that worldliness into the church. They become a corrupting influence that needs to be stopped. Jesus details the step-by-step process for how the church should respond to a brother or sister in Christ who has become worldly in their beliefs and behavior. The process that Jesus is describing demonstrates Your patience with believers who stray from the faith. You give them three opportunities to repent and return to godliness.

• A mentor exhorts the believer to repent. This is done by a godly person in the church, presumably someone who has gained the trust of the rebellious believer.
• Two or three witnesses. The rebellious believer may be denying they have done anything wrong. Therefore, two or three witnesses, presumably those with a godly reputation, must meet with the wayward believer to lay out the case against him.
• Entire congregation. If the defiant believer still refuses to repent, their case must be brought before the entire church congregation. This is a five-alarm “all hands-on deck” emergency that requires the assistance and prayers of the entire church body.

If the rebellious believer still refuses to repent, the church is to cast them out of the congregation. This is done to protect the congregation from the worldliness that this disobedient believer desires to interject into the church. Jesus assures church leaders that if they have prayerfully gone through this process that their decision to excommunicate the believer will be approved by You. Jesus also assures church leaders that if they prayerfully decide a believer has repented that You too will welcome their return to the church.

Forgiveness in the Church
Father, we believers still have our sinful and worldly nature. Not only do we hurt one another, even if unintentional, but we also struggle to forgive one another.
What about that believer who has caused trouble? How do we forgive them?
Peter asked Jesus if we should forgive our brothers and sisters seven times. While the question seems to suggest Peter is quite forgiving, a ceiling of seven acts of forgiveness is quite unforgiving. It is conditional forgiveness. It is forgiveness that can only go so far. According to Peter, if each act of forgiveness was a mile, you would not forgive anyone on the 8th mile and beyond.
Jesus contradicted Peter. He said that we should forgive people 490 times. In other words, we should forgive our brothers and sisters in Christ seventy times more than we think.
Isn’t Jesus establishing a limit to forgiveness Himself? What about the 491st time? Father, I believe we need to look at what each act of forgiveness looks like in order to understand Jesus’ response.

• John punches Bob in the nose. John apologizes. Bob is annoyed but he forgives John.
• John punches Bob in the nose again. Bob is now even more annoyed. John apologizes. Bob hesitates but forgives John.
• John punched Bob in the nose a third time. Now Bob is enraged. He isn’t interested in John’s apologies anymore. There is no forgiveness.

Bob was not able to forgive the third time. Each act of forgiveness became exponentially more difficult for Bob than the last act of forgiveness. Even Peter’s suggestion of a “seven-forgiveness-limit” is beyond Bob’s capacity as a mortal. We might believe all we have to do is to walk 100 feet into the ocean in order to forgive someone. Jesus is saying we must be willing to walk 3,000 miles across the ocean floor to forgive someone.
In other words, true forgiveness has no boundaries, no limitations, and no conditions. True forgiveness is eternal and timeless. True forgiveness is infinite, beyond the diameter of the universe. Simply put, there is absolutely no allowance for holding a grudge on anyone. It does not matter how cruel someone is, they can never be so cruel as to become unforgivable. Jesus is saying we are to forgive each and every thing without prejudice, restraint, or hesitation. Yes, John could punch Bob in the nose every hour of every day of every week of every year for the rest of Bob’s life and, according to Jesus’ standard, Bob is to graciously forgive John each and every time without any animosity.
Why does Jesus expect us to forgive this much?
Because You have forgiven us, through the shed blood of Christ, of even greater crimes. Our sins against You span the length of the ocean floor. Our sins against You extend into the furthest parts of the universe. You still forgive us. How dare we refuse to forgive someone for only 490 things when You have forgiven us for 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0001,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 crimes against You?
To illustrate this point, Jesus shared a parable of an unforgiving servant. I have shared the parable below in graphic form giving context to a 21st century audience.

George’s debt to Rick is like our debt to God. Michael’s debt to George is like any offense someone might do to us on earth. How dare we accept from God the total forgiveness of our infinite crimes against Him, but we will not forgive someone of some insignificant slight they had towards us?
Jesus warns that those who are unable to forgive should look in the mirror and examine their souls. They may discover they are not true believers after all, and their destiny is hell.
Who is a Friend of Jesus?
John reports to Jesus that there is someone who was exorcising demons in the name of Jesus. This person was not one of the disciples. John said they tried to stop him because he was not within their exclusive community.
“Don’t stop him”, Jesus said. “I’ve got four reasons why you shouldn’t.”

• Any mighty work that is done in Jesus’ name glorifies Him and that is good.
• Anyone who does good works in Jesus’ name will not have any credibility leading a rebellion against Jesus later on.
• Anyone from another team who advances the same goals our team has is on our team.
• Anyone who eases the burden our team has will be rewarded.

Believers across all denominations should unite to bring glory to Jesus Christ. There should be a shared mission to build and advance His Kingdom. If all the denominations can agree on the core truths of Christianity , they can work together to bring honor to Jesus Christ in this broken world. Amen.